If there’s one thing that’s true about the MCU, it’s that Loki, the god of mischief, has more lives than a cat or even a Flerken. For Loki fans, there have been too many many “This is it” moments to count. So as the fourth Thor movie rolled around, many MCU viewers had one question on their minds when it came to the trickster god… Will Loki appear in Thor: Love and Thunder. Now that the Thor movie has been released, we can finally answer that question. But, like Loki himself, the answer to whether he appeared in the latest Thor is tricky.
Jump to: Is Tom Hiddleston in Love and Thunder? // Is Loki in Love and Thunder? // Thor and Loki’s MCU Future
Is Tom Hiddleston in Thor: Love and Thunder?
The short answer is, no. Tom Hiddleston’s Loki does not appear in Thor: Love and Thunder. Although a version of this Loki is still running around the MCU, thanks to the Disney+ show Loki, our favorite Loki variant is nowhere to be found. This will mark the first Thor movie that Tom Hiddleston does not appear in as Loki. And although he always caused a lot of trouble, we and Thor do miss him. Happily, Loki will return in his Tom Hiddleston form when Loki season two eventually hits our screens.
Is Loki in Thor: Love and Thunder?
But is Loki in Thor: Love and Thunder? The answer is, technically, yes, the character of Loki does appear in Thor: Love and Thunder. Or rather, a character of Loki, if we’re splitting hairs. As we get our first real glimpses of New Asgard, we see Thor: Ragnarok taking place in play form to entertain the tourists. This is a reprisal of the play scene from Thor: Ragnarok, which is an incredibly meta addition that we’re sure Taika Waititi loved.
In Love and Thunder‘s play, we see Odin’s death and Hela’s introduction. And those scenes feature, you guessed it, Loki. And yes, Matt Damon returned to play as Loki for this brief interlude, reminding us of that precious time when Thor and Loki were together. We’re thankful this Matt Damon cameo gave us just a hint of Loki to tide us over. It can’t really be a Thor movie without Loki.
Thor’s Loki Tribute Tattoo
And, of course, Loki was with us in spirit in Thor: Love and Thunder… and in ink. When Thor visits Omnipotence City to ask the gods for help fighting the villainous Gorr the God Butcher, he gets himself into a little trouble. And, in an attempt to remove his disguise, Zeus flicks a little too hard, accidentally ridding Thor of his clothing. There’s a lot to take in when there’s a naked god on screen, the movie version of naked Thor is not pixelated. But most importantly, on Thor’s back, we see a huge tribute to Loki. Thor’s Loki tattoo features the trickster god’s helmet and a massive “RIP Loki.” Of course, we were looking at that and nothing else…
According to Taika Waititi, the Loki tattoo was “a comedy bit that was supposed to be in Ragnarok. When Loki faked his death and he’s reunited with Thor and Thor can’t believe he’s alive, he was to say, ‘I mourned you, look I even got this stupid tattoo,’ and Thor lifts his sleeve and it’s a tattoo that says ‘RIP Loki.’ For some reason, it didn’t make it into the film, but I was determined to get it into this one so I doubled down and put it on his back. And then [Marvel Studios head] Kevin [Feige] was like, ‘Can we make it five times bigger? So that’s why it covered his entire back.”
Thor’s Love and Thunder tattoo is a sweet tribute to Loki. And we’re glad it made it into this movie. It reminds us though the Loki was not present in Love and Thunder, he is never far away.
What’s Next for Thor and Loki in the MCU
As we mentioned, Tom Hiddleston’s Loki is heading for season two of his show. Meanwhile, it looks like Thor may yet get another movie.
At the beginning of its credits Thor: Love and Thunder reveals that “Thor will return.” And recently Kevin Feige shared, “there are plenty of other incarnations of Thor that we have that we have yet to see.” So, even though it didn’t happen in Thor: Love and Thunder, we’re betting we see Tom Hiddleston and Loki again in a Thor movie, sooner or later. That is, if the thunder god doesn’t show up in an episode of Loki. After all, Loki needs to meet Thor’s new daughter, his new niece. And won’t that be a happy family reunion?
